


Dead Freedom

by CollistaForest



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M, Purgatory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-07 16:19:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17963921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CollistaForest/pseuds/CollistaForest
Summary: An illness comes around, it infects thoes who have someone who they care about. However, it only applies to the ones in Purgatory, an in between world between Heaven and Hell.Riku catches the illness, though he has never met the one he cares for most.





	1. Chapter 1

Riku was only minorly infuriated by the disease that decided to plague his being this fine fucking Tuesday. Not only did he not know what kind of sickness racked his body with coughs, none of the medics in the town knew either.

Sadly, it wasn’t just coughing. Riku has tried to stop his stomach from emptying itself for at least two days now, and the slight fever flushed red hot across his face.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to interact with anyone during the prolonged bed rest the medics ordered. People were difficult to deal with as is, but with this unknown sickness, it made interacting with humans at least 30 times harder.

With a knock on the door, his mother announced a new arrival, his oldest and best friend.

Riku’s friend slipped past his mother’s arm, which held the door open and walked in, the household cat trailing after. Mother closed the door behind his only and best friend and made it known she was walking away.

“Riku, I didn’t know you were sick. I had to have Selphie tell me, and I’m not sure how it got to her first, but she might've not told me the whole truth. So you have to tell me everything, now.”

“Okay, Kairi,” He addressed the girl who sat in his desk chair, while the cat jumped up onto the bed and decided to nestle himself in between Riku’s hip and arm. “I didn’t plan to get sick, I don’t even know what the sickness is, no one does.” He coughed, but the cat wasn’t phased at all. “I’m not sure how Selphie knows, but yell at her next time you see her for spreading gossip about me.”

“It’s only truly gossip if it’s false.” She laughed at her own statement, get a few chuckles out of Riku before he sent himself into another coughing fit.

The two relaxed in the silence of the island itself, the only noises being heard were of waves and birds. There weren't many cars on the island, though the world has gotten past that stage of technology. The easy distance between one half of the island to the other didn’t call for such contraptions. There was a golf cart service though, but it was only used by the elderly, pregnant, or lazy.

“That cat really doesn't like to do anything, huh?” Kairi brushed her hair out of her face while looking directly at the cat, who was still curled up in a ball next to Riku’s side.

“No, Sora is energetic, dangerously so. But he seems to really calm down when I’m not feeling too good.” Petting Sora always made Riku more mellow. He became calm and serene whenever the cat decided it was high time Riku pet him again.

Sora has been more present in his life than his own mother has ever since the day the found him. Sora was just a small mess of brown fur, drenched in mud and matted fur who lurked around street corners and small shops.

When Riku brought Sora home and cut off all the excess hair around his eyes, Sora seemed happy to see him.

They named him Sora because of his eyes, which were like tiny jewels that had the same color as the heavens above. “Sky” was a bit too feminine for Riku’s liking, so the settled on “Sora”, which is not much better, but at least it wasn’t as cliche as “Sky”.

“So… How well are you feeling?” Abandoning the desk chair to sit closer, Kairi sat on the bed to hear better. Riku probably didn’t notice, but his voice got softer when he wasn’t at 100%.

“Terrible, honestly.” Riku didn’t know how to feel about her giggling at his blunt statement, but at least she was taking it better than he was.

“Okay, okay. On a scale of one to ten. One being ‘Oh shoot I’ve stepped on a lego’ and two being ‘Well darn I’ve been decapitated.”

“You make both of those sounds like a one on a regular scale, though a decapitation would be a solid four.” Now they both could laugh at that, it was meant to be a joke.

“Okay, but seriously.” Kairi's giggles died down while she waited for Riku to think of what to say.

“On an average scale, a six maybe? Not even, most likely a 5.5 at most.” Riku could feel Sora get up, the cat wasn’t very small, but he wasn’t as big as he should be. Sora lightly walked on top of Riku as he was distracted and curled up onto his chest.

The fluffball was only slightly blocking his view of Kairi, but that was alright with him. Riku didn't feel the need to look Kairi in the eyes while talking with her at the moment. Instead, he drew that attention of the cat while beginning to brush out its hair with his short and dull nails.

“This is not good… You said the medics in town don’t know anything either?” Kairi, from where he could see, furrowed her brows.

“Yeah, it might be.” Another coughing fit made Sora slip off of his chest as he sat up, Kairi moving around the bed to rub circles onto his back.

“Do you think it’s only going to get worse?” Kairi picked up the damp rag that fell to the floor when Riku sat up, drenched it into the warm water on the nightstand and wrung it out. She waited until he laid back down to place it back on his forehead.

Riku was thinking again from what Kairi could tell. He would start staring, unfocused, and a near-visible muscle in his wrist would twitch. It was weird, yes, but this was Riku we’re talking about here, he always has something weird going on with him.

Like this unexplainable illness he caught.

“My heart is hoping I'll get better, but it’s more than likely a possibility that I might die from this if it gets worse.” He cringed at his own words, so did Kairi. Hell, even Sora cringed, like he could actually understand the conversation.

Riku appreciated the warmth getting back to his forehead and his legs, where Sora was sitting.

“Everyone knows your heart is better to listen to than your head! Your head can be corrupted, but your heart always stays true to itself.” Of that was her way of trying to cheer up Riku, it somehow worked. Only a little bit, but it still worked. It got a smile out of him at least.

Kairi got up from the bed, brushing out her skirt and patting Sora on the head.

“Well, it’s almost 7 pm, dinner’s almost done. I have to be going if I want to make it in time.” Riku looked as if he was going to interject, she could tell with the tense look on his face. “Also, we don’t know if what you have is transmissible, do we? I don’t want to stay here long enough to catch whatever you have.

Kairi said her goodbyes and left the room, leaving him alone with Sora.

The cat readjusted itself, laying on Riku’s stomach with its paws reaching up to his heart.

“My heart can’t be corrupted…” Kairi’s word’s jumbled around in Riku’s head, trying to formulate anything with the sickness infecting his head. In all honesty, his heart felt choked up, as if there was a layer of sponge around his heart that was slowly squeezing the life out of it.

He felt groggy as he lay in bed, nothing to motivate him to get up and stretch out his mildly sore legs. Everything hurt. His head hurt, his legs hurt, his throat hurt.

Everything hurt.

Riku reached over to the bedside table, almost knocking over the large bowl of water while trying to get to the smaller glass cup with the same substance, but colder.

He took a few sips, but it did next to nothing to soothe his throat.

Riku growled and put the glass down, reaching to the other side of the bed to close the curtains.

It was better to try and sleep to get better than to stay up and be angry and sick all day.

He adjusted himself in bed, Sora shifting around to get closer to Riku, to warmth. Riku scratched the cat’s brown fur, calming himself down as he started drifting closer to sleep.

Then he sneezed and scared the shit out of Sora, who almost clawed through Riku’s shirt.

Apologizing to the now slightly angry cat, Riku went to sleep, hoping no bad dreams to come his way…

Oh, how fate loved to tick him off.

…  
..  
.

The first thing he saw when he woke up was a familiar gleaming pair of blue eyes.

“Hi there!”

Riku would be ashamed to admit the scream that came out of his mouth. However, that would be later. Right now, he was more worried about the stranger that was in his bed.

He also didn’t know how he got on the floor with his legs wrapped inside of a steel blue comforter, but that would come later too.

“W-what are you doing in my house?” C’mon Riku, that’s the best question you could come up with? No ‘Who are you?’ or ‘Why are you in my bed?’, just the worst possible question you could think of…

Good job Riku, super proud of you.

“Oh,” The stranger had incredibly messy brown hair which had spikes that would bobble around with every movement. The stranger jumped off of the bed and to Riku’s side, extending a hand.

Riku just stared for a moment at the stranger, who vaguely resembles his cat for some reason… His cat who wasn’t anywhere to be seen with a quick scan of the room. Maybe Sora went downstairs with Riku’s mother? Or maybe he was also trapped somewhere in the bedsheets.

Warily, he took the hand the stranger lent, who quickly pulled him to his feet.

Surprisingly, the stranger was shorter than he expected. Riku’s got a good half foot or more on him in height, but the stranger definitely wins in the ‘Friendliness’ aspect.

The stranger was smiling, grinning from ear to ear. It was almost difficult to stare at for too long because of how bright it was.

“My name is Sora! Welcome to Purgatory!”

Riku blinked a few times, his head was processing too much information at one second. Apparently, his cat is now this soft looking twink and for some reason he’s in purgatory with a human version of his cat?? What??

“Am I dead?”

“Oh, pfft no.” Sora sat down on the bed, crossing his legs like a Victorian lady. “You were sick before you came here, right?” He turned over to where Riku was standing and, yeah, he was sick. Now, with his attention on his sickness, Riku realized that… he wasn't sick anymore. He no longer felt the need to vomit or cough his lungs out, which was a big plus.

“I… was, yes.”

“Perfect” Why was that perfect? “That means the monsters can’t get you here!” Wait, what?

“The monsters? Wait, why am I in Purgatory?”

“Oh, I’ll let someone else explain, Ventus is way better at explaining things than me!” Sora jumped off of the bed, walking past Riku to grab a bag by the door to Riku’s room.

Riku, as confused as ever, trailed along after Sora. “Can you please explain something? If we’re in Purgatory, does that mean I’ve sinned? What does it mean?! And who are you!?!”

Sora planted his foot and turned around, the bag swinging behind him. Something silver was pressed against Riku’s throat with Sora looking alert and downright dangerous. He had no idea why, but Sora scared him much more than the prospect of being dead in this exact second.

Then, as quickly as it came, the cold chill of the silver left his neck and he got a good look at it.

A katana rests in Sora’s palm, the tip reaching past the floor. Riku could swear he could see some dried blood on the blade, or even the black metal of the handle.

“Anyways, we're going to be leaving now.” Sora went right back to smiling like the sun as if he hadn’t just threatened Riku with decapitation. “If you want to get changed into something more comfortable, be my guest.”

“Oh,” Right, Riku was still clad in his bright red pajamas. “Wait, where are we going?” He needed to know what kind of outfit to prepare. Even if they were in Purgatory, which Riku still has major doubts on, would he need to wear something comfortable? Or would he need to wear something he’d be able to fight in?

God, he didn’t know. Everything feels so wrong and weird. Purgatory doesn’t exist, at least, he didn’t believe it does. God and Heaven and Satan and stuff like that aren’t supposed to exist, It was all a bunch of fables told on a larger part of the world. Riku’s island didn’t believe in God and thing’s of that nature. Everyone thought it was a load of crap, and now that Riku’s here, he still thinks its crap.

 

“We’re going to my hideout. Well, technically it’s Joshua’s hideout since he got there first, but whatever.” 

Who was Joshua? Who was Ventus?

Where are they going?

Sora stepped out of the door, seemingly to let Riku change in peace. Which he didn’t, what with his mind going haywire at the moment.

Nothing made any sense. Nothing at all.

A voice in the back of his head tells him to pack some extra clothes, just in case. He’s going to listen to it, even if it’s just this once. He packs an entire duffel bag chock-full of clothes with little space for anything else. 

He recalls to when Sora mentioned monsters and sighs. He doesn’t really feel safe anymore, like a monster could come into his room at any moment and rip him to shreds.

He could get a weapon? Does he even have a weapon? Riku felt the muscle in hi in his wrist twitch once, twice. He put his hand over it, stopping the pulses.

He knew there was an axe in the garage that his mother often used for chopping wood. And, hey, he lived on an island, when weren’t they chopping wood for a fire?

Fully prepared to walk downstairs and grab the axe, Riku put on his shoes and exited the room and was met with complete darkness.

No such thing as shadows existed, the world was too dark for that. Rocks and pebbles crunched beneath his feet and he was slightly happy his foresight told him to put on shoes before he left his room.

Sora stood a bit ways away from the lone room, looking to be on scout rather than waiting. It took a little while before Riku realized he should probably call out to Sora than to just stand here and wait for the other to notice him on his own.

“Sora… Where’s the rest of my house?”

“Hm?” Sora’s voice reverberated through the air as if they’re just in some large room instead of complete darkness. “Oh, when you get sent here, not much comes with you, only the room you died in. Or, in your case, the room that you came here in… I think.”

“What do you mean you think!!”

“I mean I don’t really know.” Sora glided through the low fog that drenched the stone. It seemed to dissipate above knee level, like it was being held down. However, since it seemed to be so condensed, it was almost white. 

Sora walked closer, cutting through the fog who repaired itself with swirls and tendrils until it seemed like no one was ever there.

“I don’t know much of Purgatory, even though I’ve been here a long time. No one really does, though Joshua thinks he has a good theory on it. I think he had a friend like you…”

“A friend like me? What do you mean?”

“Not right now, I’ll tell you when we get to the base.” As if it was a switch, Sora flipped his brain into battle mode. He brought his sword out in front of himself and lead Riku through the fog in a defensive position.

Riku was going to ask why the sudden change in demeanor when Sora started running. Five steps behind, Riku followed but stopped short when he realized why Sora was running…

There was a monster, large and dark and glaring yellow eyes that dug deep into your soul and clung in until you screamed.

Good thing the head was cut off before anything got too deep into his soul. The head rolled and rolled until it hit Riku's shoe, leaving a messy black smoky substance. Then, it faded away into the fog, the black substance dripping off until it evaporated on the rocks.

“Are you good?” Sora flipped the switch back, back to smiling and laughing and shining like the sun. Riku almost screamed when he saw the black blood on the blade of Sora's katana.

He didn't know if he felt better or worse when the black blood faded to the fog.

“I'm… fine. What was that?” Riku took a step through the fog, wishing he could find the rest of his house so he could get that axe.

“That's called a Heartless, they come from someone who has lost their body. On the other hand, a Nobody will come from someone who has lost their heart.”

What.

Riku was barely following along in the first place, but now the monsters are complicated?

“How… How do you lose your heart?” He really wasn't expecting an answer, he hasn't got many so far and most have been cut off by the need to get to safety.

“Some Heartless are engineered to be this way, but most of them come from someone who has fallen from the darkness here. Their heart was forcefully ripped from their body, becoming a Heartless and a Nobody…”

Riku took a moment to process.

“I was a Heartless once, it wasn't fun.”

Riku started for a while, Sora seemed more interested in scanning the area than checking into Riku's mind and face the chaos he caused.

“Okay, what? Oh, nevermind, you said you had a base with other people?”

“Yup! And it's safe too! There's a Heartless barrier around it, though we don't know if the Nobodies can get through.” Sora relaxed a bit, leaning against his now black-bloodless katana.

“Let's go.” 

“Alright!” The other jumped back, shifting his weapon around until it was right in front of himself again. The switch in his mind flipped again, ready to lead his new friend to safety.

The trek to the base was a little bit longer than Riku expected, with how long it took Sora to find him. Speaking of, how long was he asleep? How long was he in this hellscape of a land? How long was Sora kneeling over his sleeping body in his own bed?

After a whole lot of nothing, nothing, and even more nothing, they finally found something. Large buildings, like skyscrapers, pierce through the black, inky abyss of the sky.

“Okay, we just have another hour or so to go,” Sora pulled out a thick folded paper from an extra pocket. He unfolded the paper and Riku quickly realized that it was a lot larger than it appeared with marks and small tears at the ends.

It was a map of Purgatory.

“Okay, so we are here,” Sora pointed to a bundle of rectangles on the map labeled 'Sky Village’. “We need to get here.” Not too far, Sora pointed to a different building, three inches away from 'Sky Village’ and pretty secluded.

The name on the map was crooked, facing what Riku thought was probably North East. He was going to comment on it, the lack of preparation of whoever made the map, when Sora started going closer to a building. Honestly, the building might've been taller than the others, but without being able to see the tops, it would be hard to judge.

On the side of a building, a wooden plate with the name 'Sky Village’ carved into it. Riku watched as Sora aligned the name of the village on the map with the wooden plate on the building.

Riku, as confused as ever watched as Sora pulled the map down, found the base again, and started leading Riku in the direction of the base.

Okay, he figured, the original creator of the map might've been a bit smarter than he gave them credit for.

“Are you hungry?” Sora asked. The two were more than halfway done with their trek. Sora mentioned, just a few minutes ago, that the two had 15 minutes left until they reached the base. At this point, Riku took knowledge of his lack of hunger. He hadn't been too focused on it because of the vast amount of weirdness that has happened since he woke up and to this point.

“No, I'm not. Why?” Simple answers, simple responses. Sora looks trustworthy, sure, but with how he's able to completely decapitate one of those “Heartless” in less than ten seconds.

Sora was frightening, but he was small and cute and seemed completely harmless if he wasn't waving around a katana.

“The people who come here because of the illness don't really get hungry from what we gathered. They don't really seem to exist here, with that and the Heartless not going after them.”

“So, the Heartless won't attack me.” Riku almost stopped walking. He was safe, he wasn't going to die, he probably isn't already dead from the illness, so he's safe.

He's safe.

“No, I mean, they didn't attack Joshua's friend or that one redhead. Neither of them slept or ate or anything like that. The rest of us? The ones that are here because we died? We still feel alive. We feel pain and the need to eat. I completely forgot I needed to sleep once and managed to go on for what we think was a week before I passed out!” Sora laughed at the end, as if passing out after a week of sleep wasn't scary in the middle of this warzone.

“You keep mentioning a Joshua,” Riku will bring up the lack of self-care later. “Who is he?”

“Oh, he's a… God… kind of? You'll meet him in a few minutes and get to know him.” A lone building came into view a few seconds later, and Sora picked up speed.

The two were running to the front porch and they could hear the echoes of voices of the walls. It looked like an old hotel building with the entire bottom floor as a lobby of sorts.

It wasn't very large, five floors at most, almost nothing compared to those buildings in 'Sky Village’.

Sora knocked seven times before barging into the building, the base.

Everything went silent inside, everyone staring at the open doorway. A few boys were near the center of the lobby, one half on his way to punch the other. Two people stood next to the elevator, a girl in a white dress and light blonde hair and a feminine boy who had a few buttons undone on his collared shirt.

“Sora!” The boy who was about to get punched was dropped onto the carpeted floor.

“Hey Roxas, where's Donald and Goofy?” Sora stepped further inside, letting Riku in the base.

Riku, thankfully, closed the door behind him.

“They're both in room 207, but why are you back so early? We thought you were going to be out for at least another day or two.” When Roxas got close to Sora, Riku could see similarities between them. They almost looked the same sans Roxas’ blonde hair.

“Oh, I found some who got here with the illness, I thought he could use some help so I came back early.” Sora moved aside, letting the four in the room fully take in his appearance.

'Hello, the name's Riku.” He felt like he was getting stared down, almost like these four strangers were putting him under a microscope and analyzing his every twitch.

“Bravo for getting here, Riku.” The boy with the unbuttoned shirt clapped, the smile shown on his face was more threatening and malicious then the sunny sky that was Sora.

“Thanks…” He really didn't know if to take it as a compliment or a threat.

“Oh hi! I'm Namine.” The girl in the white dress approached him, taking in Riku's silver hair. “You know Sora, he's Roxas, Sora's twin-” 

“Hello, Riku. It's nice to meet you.”

“That's Vanitas, the guy who almost punched Roxas again-”

“Hi “ Short and blunt, Riku liked that. He gave Vanitas a small wave.

“And that's Joshua, he's kind of an asshole, but we keep him around because he's technically God.”

“I'm not God,” Joshua cut in, taking short strides to where the group was circling up. “I'm just a composer, there's a difference.”

“And you say it as if you don't have any power.” Vanitas gave off what should have sounded like a laugh if he wasn't so… him.

Joshua rolled his eyes and left the lobby, using the stairs instead of the elevator. The greetings were all said and done for now. At least, Riku hoped they were. This crowd was odd enough for one trip to Purgatory.

“Oh yeah, Sora, Donald wants to talk to you. I don't know what he wants, but it'd be a good chance to let Riku get accustomed to the duck early.” Roxas patted his twin on the shoulder and took his leave from the building, dragging two sickles behind him.

“That's a weird nickname…” Sora chuckled, trying to hide a short spout of laughter.

“It's- oh my, it's not a nickname, just- oh lord- just come with me.” All smirks and giggles, Sora lead him up the stairway to the second floor and to the fourth room on the right. Room 207.

“Donald!” Sora knocked. “Goofy! Did you two call for me?”

“Sora!” The squeak-toy voice made Riku wince. The human voice wasn't supposed to reach that level of squeakiness.

And the thing that opened the door wasn't human.

It was a fucking duck.

The duck opened the door and welcomed Sora in. He glared at Riku for a moment before Sora told Donald to let him in too.

Riku couldn't follow the conversation that was being held, the talking dog in the corner didn't help at all. That's Goofy, Sora supplied, He's got a high defense. 

He let his mind wander for now, there wasn't anything he could supply to the conversation anyways. He thought back to the Heartless and the way Sora explained them. The Heartless was someone who had lost their heart and had turned into a black monster. Then, the Nobodies, supposedly a heart who had lost its body. How do you just lose a body? How do you lose your heart? He guessed that when people mentioned their heart, they didn't really mean their organ. Maybe their spirit? Their soul?

Speaking of, didn't Sora mention that he had turned into a Heartless before? With the explanation Sora gave him, didn't that also mean that he had turned into a Nobody? Did he not remember his experiences of being a Nobody? How the hell did he get back together with himself?

“Riku, what do you think about getting yourself a weapon?” Sora smiled that bright smile of his and lead him down to the first floor and through a few doors.

As the door to the kitchen creaked behind them, Sora leads them to room off of the pantry that looked like an unused meat freezer. It was barely chilly when Sora propped the door open with a wooden wedge.

Riku walked into the refurbished freezer and almost found himself shocked. 

There were weapons lining the walls as if they've been collected throughout many years. There were half broken swords, maces with broken spikes, broken arrow tips and small segments of chain that you could barely get around someone's neck.

Still feeling some sort of longing for the axe that was in his garage back in the real world, Riku tried to find one that was relatively in shape. Or, at least, not completely broken.

He settled on a hatchet with a dull blade and a few scratches on the wood of the handle. It fit in the palms of his hands as he rolled the handle from hand to hand.

“Find one you like?” Sora was inspecting an arrow at the corner nearest the door. He plucked it out of the quiver and held it in both of his hands before looking up to Riku. “Okay, that hatchet fits you.” Sora inspected the hatchet itself while looking back once or twice to the spot it held on the wall.

“How so?” Riku shifted the weapon a few times in his hands, finding the dull blade oddly comforting.

“You see the scratches on the handle? The first handler of it, Ansem, kinda reminds me of you. Only in appearance, he wasn’t a very good person to be honest. His heart left years ago, so it doesn’t really matter anymore.” Sora became a bit more strained as he recalled Ansem.

Sora didn’t like thinking about Ansem.

 

Riku acknowledged that fact that it almost physically pained Sora to talk bad about other people. Sora was just too good to be bad.

“That’s… fascinating.” In all honesty, he couldn’t find words to say. This situation is crazy, borderline insane… No, we’ve already passed insane with the talking Duck and Dog.

“Not really! Ansem wasn’t a nice person, but I’m glad he got out of here…” Sora almost deflated at the words, as if he still was trying to find something satisfying in the situation.

“Sora?”

“I’m almost ashamed to say the only reason I’m glad he got out is that... he’s not around me anymore.” Rolling the arrow in his hands, Sora tried to appear as an adorably pitiful puppy.

Not now, Riku.

“Oh, that’s good. If he doesn’t make you comfortable, then it’s better to be separated from him rather than him being too close to be comfortable anymore.” That gained a smile back from Sora.

“That’s… good advise. I’ll keep it to my heart, Riku!”

The two smiled, Riku’s being a first for him for a while, and left the freezer. Sora knocked the wooden wedge out of the way of the door, hearing it slam shut as the two were already a few paces away.

“Hey, what’s the arrow for?” It’s been on his mind since Sora picked it out.

“Oh, Donald needs more arrows for some magic thing he’s working on.” Riku didn’t think his eyebrows could get any further up. Not only did a duck know how to speak, but he also knew magic?

What the hell was wrong with this world?

“We were getting prepared for what we call ‘Final day’ when you showed up. I was actually out gathering intel when I found you.” Sora started talking again when Riku didn’t respond, figuring he’s just a kind of person who didn’t talk much.

He was right.

“So… how do I get out of here?” Riku trailed along behind Sora, trying to find a space to store his new hatchet when the question drifted from his lips. Though, he assumed he would need this info one way or the other. He knew he couldn’t get hurt here, but how was he supposed to get home?

“We don’t really know. The three that have come here because of the illness and since then left don’t really have anything in common with how they went back.” Sora began thinking in his head, rubbing his chin with an index finger.

Riku wracked his head for any sort of information he could get. He needed to find some way to leave Purgatory. Without the knowledge of what's happening in the real world, Riku felt like he was wasting time if he were just to lay around.

Though, with his needs on hold, isn’t his body in some sort of stasis? Being here could waste no time at all in the real world, but we wouldn’t know until he got out. He didn’t really know, nothing really made sense anymore.

For now, he’ll just roll with it.

“Why? Do you want to get back home? ...Do you already hate it here?” Sora looked only a bit hurt, but that was enough for Riku to start an internal panic. He didn’t know this Sora for long, but he reminded him so much of his own cat that it frightened him. Within the four-ish hours he’s known this Sora, he would kill anyone who made him upset.

“No, no, it’s fascinating here. It’s only that… I have no idea what’s happening in the outside world.” That seemed to console Sora on the fact that Riku didn’t actually hate it here, but it also fell with his next words.

“No one here knows what happens in the outside world. Once you get here, you either die or you get out. Once you get out though, you never return.” Sora looked to the floor for any answers in his head before letting shaking a tingle through his spine and out through his fingertips and toes.

“Well, if you want to know more, It’s better if you ask Joshua. He seems to have a good grip on the situation than the rest of us.” The smile was back, thank god.

“Alright, but only if you come with me. I may not know anyone here, but at least I know you more than anyone else.”

“Aww, that’s sweet, Riku!”

Riku rolled his eyes, trying to fight the urge to smile at the spiky mess of brown hair.

“Where is he?”

“If I know him any, which I probably don’t, he should be on the fourth floor. Here, follow me.” And Sora took off running again, which seems to be a bit of a habit. Riku follows along, just a few steps behind Sora as they approach the 4th floor.

Sora rapped on the door, barely giving the occupant a moment to prepare before opening the door on its own. So, he opened the door to reveal a tarnished room, a single white glowing figure standing over an upturned chair.

“Joshua?” Riku looked to Sora, who was less surprised than Riku thought he should be.

This was Joshua? Riku was positive that when he met Joshua earlier he wasn't some sort of ethereal glowing figure that drowned out the rest of the light in the room.

“Oh, Sora… Riku.” The glow dimmed ever so slowly until the form of Joshua appeared again. However, he looked like a complete wreck. His hair was a mess, shirt askew and eyes red-rimmed.

“Did we come back at a bad time, Josh?” Sora's voice turned soft as the pale teen figure turned the chair back over. Joshua shook his head at the question and waved the two inside.

“No, please come in, and close the door behind you.”

The two got comfortable on Joshua's borrowed bed while Josh folded his legs under himself in the overly large chair.

“So, what do you need to know?”

“Riku had a few questions about Purgatory and since I don't know much, I knew you were someone we could ask about all this stuff.” Jumping right in, Sora leaned with his shoulders.

“Oh, right. Of course, Riku, what do you need to know?” The feminine boy appeared relaxed, contempt.

Everyone knew it was a lie, but that was a problem for another time.

“How did I get here?” The first question popped into his head, though it wasn't long until more and more questions started flooding into his skull.

“Oh right, you contracted the illness to get here. Unlike the rest of us, who had to die to get here, you came here by what we are calling the Summoning. The Summoning is an illness that gives you a fever, a sore throat and the need to... throw up.” Sora gagged at the words but didn't interrupt. “Unfortunately, the illness doesn't have any set special circumstance to be transferred. I know a few people caught it randomly, some from passing strangers who had it but weren't susceptible to it and… It also can be passed through lovers.” Joshua stopped, looking to Riku to make sure he was still focused.

“Following?” The answers from Sora and Riku were very different.

“Yes,” Riku followed.

“No,” Sora didn't.

Joshua sighed and slammed his palm against his forehead. “Bravo Riku, at least you're following my explanation. Any other questions?”

Riku sorted through the multitude of questions in his head. He tried to find ones he found important, not wanting to waste more of Joshua's time that he has already. He was pretty sure Joshua wanted to be alone right now based on his body language and the state he was in when Sora burst through the door.

“How can I return home?”

“Now that's a tricky question,” Joshua smirked and shifted in his chair. “I know of a few different ways to get back, but they don't work for everyone. These might not work for you, Hell, the situations to return could be unique to the individual for all we know. Understand?”

A nod from Riku, a yawn from Sora.

“Good. Now, the way Axel, a red-head here who kinda fell in love with… Roxas I think, got back home by taking down a tower of Heartless. No one really knows how Anna got home to her sister, but I'm glad she's back, probably something to do with familial love or something like that. Aladdin, he wished his way out and left everyone in the middle of a large battle.” Riku could hear Josh curse Aladdin under his breath.

“So it is different for everyone…” Riku leaned back, brushing shoulders with Sora, who looked like he would rather be anywhere else but here. Riku assumed Sora was one who couldn't sit still while a lesson was taught, and he knew he was correct by the way Sora fiddled with the chain hanging off of the end of his blade.

“Very much so. Now, if that's all you needed.” Joshua gestured to the door. “The door's there.”

Well, that wasn't subtle at all.

Riku not-so-gently hit Sora on the shoulder until he tuned back in on the conversation at hand.

“Thank you for the help, Joshua.” Riku got off of the bed and bowed, quickly followed by Sora.

Soon, the two took their leave and left the Composer to do as he pleases.

The two walked around the base, Riku becoming familiar with each nook and cranny in the base.

Then, he remembered a question he Gould have asked Joshua.

“Hey, Sora.”

The smaller stopped but wasn't left far behind. Riku turned to Sora as he started thinking again, eyes to the floor while an index finger scratched at his chin.

“I think it was Donald who cast it.” Sora took the two steps to get closer to Riku. “But it's supported and hidden by Joshua.”

“That's why I didn't see it on the way in.” Riku didn't remember Sora mentioning the barrier when the got back to the base, so he wasn't looking out for it. He recalled now, he never saw it in the first place.

“Yup! It makes the Heartless unable to get in here, but it also makes this place invisible to them. Or, at least I think it does. I'll have to ask when he's feeling better.”

“Alright.” Besides the magic, it made a bit of sense. If Sora was once a Heartless, it made sense that he would need a map to be able to get back here.

“Now,” Sora used a pocket watch a reference to time. “We have a few hours until Xion announces the start of the meeting for out ‘Final Day’ plans. I don’t know if you’ll be included, but you might be a part of the plan itself. These people… it takes a while to gain their trust, but it’s worth it in the end.” 

Riku understood the difficulties of gaining trust. In all honesty, it took a few years to be able to communicate with Kairi without closing in on himself again. She might be his one true friend in the real world, but there was something about Sora that made Riku comfortable around him. It might be the way he smiles, like he has the sun embedded in his teeth and just dying to show it to everyone around him. It might be the way he acts as if he can power through everything, like shit is not utterly fucked and they’re standing in the foggy depths of Purgatory and about to enact the ‘Final Day’ plan, whatever that entails.

Maybe, it’s all of that and more. Maybe Riku is just being a raging homosexual in Purgatory, but he can’t help but find Sora to be completely perfect.

“What do you want to do until then?” Sora knocks Riku out of his thoughts, turning to the real person instead of the image his mind is trying to make up.

“I want to get to know you.” Perhaps it was the only thing he wanted to do, but Riku wanted to get more information about Sora before falling completely head over for the other. Falling for someone this quickly was bound to end in disaster.

Although, he had to admit watching Sora cut off the Heartless’ head earlier was kinda hot.

“Oh really? Alright, what do you want to know about me?” Sora gave a small laugh before continuing their walk back to the stairwell.

“So, Sora, what's your favorite color?” Normal get-to-know-you questions were the only thinks Riku could stand at this moment. Gay panic during Sora's explanation of something he enjoys would not be the most productive thing he's done all day.

Alas, Riku could never know the extent of Sora's adorableness while in Purgatory. He'd have to get them both to the real world before trying to pursue any sort of romantic relationship with Sora.

Riku honestly wasn't sure why he was thinking of Sora like this. The other might not think of him in the same way, or even like men in that way.

He wasn't sure, and he didn't necessarily want to find out. Fear of rejection, the killer of the human race.

“Oh, my favorite color has to be red, though a close second is yellow? What about you Riku?” Bouncing the question back, nice move.

“Silver.” This got a laugh out of Sora.

“Silver? Like your hair?” Sora took a larger step to match Riku, deciding to twist a piece of spiky silver hair through his fingers before pulling away all too soon in Riku's mind.

 

“Yeah, what about… What's your favorite snack?”

And so the two talked, for much longer than they should have, and ended up waltzing up to Sora's room. Riku was impressed by the state or the room itself. Based on Sora's personality and the way he behaves, it would seem as if his room would be a complete mess. However, it was very much the opposite.

Everything was nice and tidy, nothing looked as if it was out of place. The books on the shelf formed a barricade against the wall while a desk with a lawn chair sat underneath. A few places away was the bed, already made.

“Riku,” Sora closed the door behind the two and, just as a safety measure, locked it behind himself. “What do you want to do now?”

Many thoughts went through Riku's head, most of them were not very appropriate. According to Sora, there is only three hours until Sora had to attend the meeting, so why not make the most of their time until then?

“I want to read one of those books, up there.” Pointing to the shelf, Sora almost ran up to it, calling out the titles and blurbs until Riku chose one.

“Okay,” Plucking the book from its barricade, Sora trotted to the bed, sitting close to the pillows. “Since I've read this four times, I'm gonna take a nap. But please! Go ahead and read it!” Sora patted a spot right next to himself, nonverbally telling Riku to sit down.

Slowly, Riku sat and took the book from Sora's hands, leaning against the wall. Sora joined Riku against the wall, subtly scooting closer and hoping Riku didn't notice.

He did notice, Riku just didn't comment on it.

Not long after Riku began reading, Sora started to doze off again. He smiled, an action he seemed to be doing a lot of recently despite being in Purgatory, a limbo between Heaven and Hell.

Well, the sleepy smile on the other's face would make anyone feel calm.

He continued reading, too aware of Sora barely falling to the side. Without making him stir, Riku pulled his sleeve and Sora’s head fell softly onto his shoulder.

With feeling a slight sense of accomplishment, Riku continued reading the book. He had to admit, it wasn’t as interesting as the blurb called it to be, real life was much more interesting.

Riku almost fell asleep too, with the warm weight against his side. He could feel his last few hours with Sora alone tick away slowly.

A loud knock at the door signaled that their time was up together, and Riku had to wake up Sora before the knocks at the door became any angrier.

“Hey, Sora, it’s time for the meeting!” Oh fuck, it’s that duck again. 

“Hold on, he’s coming.” Riku shifted off of the bed, not waking Sora yet. He took in his appearance, noting the drool coming out of his mouth. Only minorly repulsed, Riku wiped the drool from his shoulder.

Ignoring the duck screaming outside, Riku tried to shake Sora awake. Shockingly, he didn’t budge from his sleep. 

Must be a good dream.

He tapped Sora on the temple until he woke, which took the greater half of a minute. Once back in the land of the conscious, Sora tried to sit up on his own and almost fell back over on himself.

“Sora, you have to wake up. The meeting is starting soon and the duck is screaming again.” Riku helped him off of the bed, trying his best not to scream as he held one of Sora's hands.

“Is that… Donald?” Rubbing at his eyes, Sora trudged to the door with Riku right behind him.

“Yeah, he's been screaming for a few minutes now. I think it's time for you to head to the meeting.” 

“Yeah…” Sora paused at the door handle, looking back to Riku, standing two steps behind. “Wait for me here?”

“Of course,” And so, Sora left Riku to his own devices during the longevity of the meeting.

Sora's room didn't have much to do in it. There were books, yes, but nothing much despite those. Meditation would be good for the soul, his “Heart”, but complete silence would get pretty boring after a while.

He could go out, try and fight the Heartless. However, he told Sora he would wait for him and going out trying to fight on his own wouldn't be a good idea. He didn't know anyone else inside the building, much less the people in the meeting.

That mentioned, he wondered if there was anyone else outside of everyone in this base. This place had to be big, it's Purgatory. There had to be more people in Purgatory than there were here.

He wondered if there was anyone that he knew here. Maybe some who had passed away in his family? Or someone who had been taken away from the world too soon…

There has to be someone else in this world, not just the twenty or so that lived in the base.

Instead of being alone with his thoughts for however long, Riku decided to pick out another book from the shelf. There wasn’t much of a variety, but there was something interesting tucked underneath a fairytale novel.

‘Legend of the Paopu Fruit.’


	2. Chapter 2

Riku knows this book. Hell, he's  _ read  _ the damn thing 500 times back in the real world. The Paopu fruit has only one region where it grows, and that just so happens to be the exact place Riku lives, the Destiny Islands.

 

The Paopu fruit is widely known throughout the entire world, so it's not really that difficult to see someone like Sora with a book about it. However, for it to be in Purgatory? And for it to be in Sora's possession  _ in Purgatory _ ? 

 

He must either really like the legend, or have a case of homesickness.

 

Plucking the book from the shelf and leafing through the pages, Riku can see that the book is the exact same one. The same words, the same grammar, even the  _ font _ was the same.

 

It was the book, exactly how he remembers it to be.

 

A strange feeling of nostalgia poured over him as he drifted across the pages, nothing but the soft glow of a table lamp to light the pages. The black abyss outside surely wasn't helping.

 

The entire book was read cover to cover twice, but to be fair, it wasn't a really long book. There was a maximum of 103 pages with words that would make a child's head spin.

 

Riku left it on the desk, a reminder to talk to Sora about it later.

 

He picked out a much larger book before laying back onto the bed, gaining enough light from the table lamp to read. He tried to picture Sora next to him again during the miniature breaks when he flipped the pages. He tried to imagine to the warmth of the other in the cold and dim room while trying to imagine the characters lives in the story he was reading.

 

A new character was introduced in the story, one with bright blue eyes. The main character fell in love with them immediately. Riku closed the book and looked for something else to read.

 

He really needed to have a talk to Sora about his book organization skills. If he put a romance novel next to a murder mystery novel, then it clearly needed some work.

 

So that's what he decided on doing while waiting for Sora to come back. Riku would take a book, read the blurb on the back, then put it into one of the several growing genre piles. Once that was complete, he sorted the stacks to be alphabetical and carefully piled them back onto the shelf.

 

It didn't take up as much time as he hoped it would.

 

He was bored, and frankly a bit done with books at the moment. He almost felt like leaving the room and trying to kill some Heartless, but he already went aboard that train of thought. Riku didn't want to snoop around, so  _ looking  _ for something to do was out of the question.

 

Maybe he could just take a nap? Even if he wasn't feeling the slightest bit tired.

 

Everyone knew sleep was good for the body.

 

Riku rid himself of the hatchet still in the loop of his jeans. He placed it onto the desk, right next to the Paopu fruit book. Next went his shoes, who were flung carelessly towards the door.

 

He laid in the bed which smelled  _ so much  _ like Sora. I almost as if Sora was still with him if he closed his eyes.

 

If he closed his eyes… And slept…

 

There was no answer when a knock came upon the door almost a half hour later. Sora, as polite as he is, let Riku sleep in his bed and decided on staying in the unoccupied room across the hallway.

 

He'd fill Riku in on the plans later.

 

When Riku woke up cold and alone, it was needless to say he was a bit confused. Shouldn't Sora be back by now? 

 

He didn't have a way to check the time, so he supposes he could have only been sleeping for a few minutes instead of the hours he intended to.

 

He pulled himself out of bed, wishing for a longer jacket as the cold seeped into his skin. Pulling the hatchet back into his pocket, Riku left the room, almost running right into a smaller body once he opened the door.

 

“Riku! Hi! You're up!” That much energy at whatever-the-fuck time it was isn't legal.

 

“What time is it?” His voice sounded as groggy as he felt.

 

“Well,” Sora quickly checks the pocket watch, flipping it open and closed in a swift second. “Clock says it's 6:27 am, not everyone is up yet, so we still have a little while before people come swarming down. Do you want some breakfast?”

 

“Don't need to eat,” He wondered how well Sora could cook on his own.

 

“Right, I forgot you were different from the rest of us.” Sora looked contemplative for a moment before shrugging and pulling Riku down the hallways and to the stairwell. “Oh well, you're still coming!”

 

Riku assumed Sora wasn't phased by much. Not even the burning smell of cereal in the kitchen, followed by the draft of smoke.

 

The doors to the kitchen opened, Sora waving the smoke out of the air and coughing to get it out of his lungs.

 

No, Riku figured out Sora was terrible at cooking on his own. And so, Riku landed himself a spot in the kitchen, throwing away an entire bowl of an unidentifiable burnt mess to start anew.

 

He ended up making something he could remember that didn't have much sugar in it. There was little to work with, supplies being scarce, but Riku could handle it.

 

His efforts were appreciated, he could tell. Sora tore through the breakfast like a speeding train with quick stops for water.

 

The two ended bored, which Riku quickly figured out was something bad once Sora mentioned going out and killing Heartless. Quickly, Sora perked up at his own words. He practically  _ begged  _ Riku to join him into going out and murdering Heartless.

 

It's not Riku's fault he agreed! He will blame the soft puppy eyes of Sora's to be the culprit until the end of time itself. Those things are a weapon all on their own.

 

Not too long after, Riku and Sora left the base, stopping right before the invisible Heartless wards.

 

“You ready?”

 

Riku could not be more ready.

 

They scoped out Heartless for a few hours with Sora teaching Riku some of the Heartless’ weak points. Visual demonstrations were one of Sora's favorite learning tactics, so he hoped Riku appreciated all the Heartless he had to kill while trying to teach Riku the best place to strike a Heartless. However, it may be the best place to strike, but it was the hardest to reach.

 

Where their heart is, if they had one.

 

However, the spot was easily guarded, which made it that much more difficult to strike.

 

“We're proceeding with the plan tomorrow.” Sora started speaking when the two were walking back to the base. He wasn't looking at Riku, rather he was staring at an unfolded section of the map. “They wanted me to fill you in.”

 

Was that why they were a mile or so away from the base Heartless Hunting? No, they only got this far out because Sora got a bit careless with his lesson. The other just found this good time to fill Riku in on the plans.

 

“What's the plan, Sora?” He would swear he could see the smaller jump at the end of the sentence, but he wouldn't mention it. Not now, anyway. He does want to know what the “Final Day” plans are.

 

“Tomorrow.” Riku blinked, that soon? “A group of us are going into a place that is completely swarming with Heartless. Inside is told to hold a Keyblade, and by activating it, we can get back home! However, it's been a while since anyone's seen it, so it could be anywhere. For all we know, it doesn't even exist! And that's that's not even the worst part! With our luck, we wouldn't be able to get past the swarm of Heartless, much less get to the Keyblade.” That doesn't sound right, something that morbid of a thought didn't have the right to be implanted into Sora's mind…

 

“Hey, cheer up. From what I know, you all are strong fighters. I'm sure you all would be able to get through the Heartless without a problem.” That was most likely the most he's spoken since he's gotten here. Sora looked surprised he said more than six words in a sentence, he just hoped his point had gotten through. He didn't actually know if they were all strong fighters, it was an assumption that he hoped to be true.

 

It would make everything so much easier.

 

“Yeah, they're all pretty amazing fighters… it's just that the Heartless protecting the Keyblade are much stronger than the ones roaming around here.” Sora tore his eyes off of the map, looking up to Riku with doe eyes. “I'm not sure we'd be able to fight them all off in time… I'm just-I don't anyone to die again.” Wait what?

 

“Die again? Sora, what happens if you die here?”

 

“You,” Sora stopped walking, the fog swirling around his feet. He turned his attention back to the map and continued to walk. “If you die here, it means you didn't care enough to keep your second chance… The Devil takes you if you die here.”

 

Well, that's not fun to think about.

 

“But that's not something you really have to worry about. You didn't die in the first place, so you'll be fine when we go out to fight all the Heartless.”

 

Right, he almost forgot about that. The Heartless wouldn't attack him because of  _ how  _ he got here.

 

Riku rested his hand on Sora's shoulder, effectively calming both of them down.

 

“We'll be alright.” Everyone will be alright. Everyone is going to be able to survive this mess and get the Keyblade-whatever that is- and  _ get out of Purgatory. _

 

All they need is a little fighting spirit.

 

“Thanks Riku,” Sora put one if his hands on top of Riku’s, showing that thousand-watt smile again.

 

“No,” A smile sneaked onto Riku's face. No matter how small it was, Sora found it. “Thank you, Sora.”

 

After recalculating their route twice, Sora eventually brought the two back to the base via the map. Once they entered the building, the map was unceremoniously folded and shoved back into one of Sora's multitude of pockets.

 

Someone brought a table into the center of the lobby while the two were out in their little impromptu lesson on slaying Heartless.

 

“We're only going over the battle strategy once,” Roxas, as well as everyone else at the table, stared at the two who entered. “So you better get over here before we start.”

 

Sora ran to the table, snatching the seat between Roxas and Xion, leaving Riku with the only available seat left between Vanitas and  _ Donald. _ Why was  _ Donald the duck here?  _ Surely his ‘magic’ had to be great in order to be chosen for the plan.

 

_ Surely… _

 

“We'll do a quick roll call and then get the explanation underway.” Clearing his throat, Roxas pulled the graffitied clipboard closer to his face as he stood up.

 

“Donald,”

 

“Present.”

 

“Goofy,”

 

“Here, h-yuck.”

 

“Hayner.”

 

“I'm here.”

 

“Joshua,”

 

“Alive, unfortunately.”

 

“Olette.”

 

“Here.”

 

“Riku,”

 

“Right here.”

 

“I'm Roxas… Sora,”

 

“Here!”

 

“Vanitas,”

 

“Present.”

 

“Ventus,”

 

“On your left.”

 

“Xion,”

 

“Right here.”

 

“Great, now that everyone is accounted for,” Roxas sat back down, nearly throwing the clipboard at Hayner. “Let's start the meeting.”

 

Hayner flipped through the clipboard, shifting the papers until he found one in Roxas’ handwriting. He scooted forward in his chair and placed the clipboard back down on the table. “We're going to have three lines of defense, two groups of four and a group of three. The job of the first grouping is to kill Heartless and make way for the other two so they can get inside the castle.”

 

Wait, Castle?

 

“The first group is going to be Donald, Olette, Sora and me,” Roxas announced. He must have already memorized the plans by now. God only knows how long since he's first planned them out. “These groupings are made so we can unleash our maximum potential against the Heartless. They are not up for debate.”

 

Riku almost felt upset that he wasn't in the same grouping as Sora. Though, what could he expect? He knew he wasn't much of a fighter, he grew up on a peaceful Island, there was no need to learn how to  _ fight  _ if there was nothing  _ to fight. _ Sora was placed within the group of fighters, berserkers, people with enough skill and fortitude to demolish thousands of Heartless at once.

 

That would have been a frightening thought if he hadn't seen Sora fight before.

 

“Group two is Ventus, Hayner, Xion and Goofy.” Hayner looked to Ventus, then to Vanitas, who both glared at Roxas. The two didn't like being separated.

 

“This group will be in charge of navigation, they'll get all of us in and out.” Hayner looked through more of the papers until he found a shoddy map of the Heartless’ base. He passed it over to Joshua, who gave it to Xion, who passed it to Sora who in turn, gave it to Roxas.

 

“You four will be spending tonight trying to find a way into and through the Heartless Castle. This is important, don't slack off.” The warning made Hayner sit up straight. Riku, who was almost across the table from him, had to stop himself from laughing.

 

“The final group is going to be Joshua, Riku and Vanitas.” Ah yes, Riku was paired with the almost-god and the One guy who tried to punch Roxas when Riku first got here.

 

Perfect team.

 

“Your job will be,” Hayner flipped through the papers in the clipboard again until he arrived on the page he wanted. “To get the Keyblade and bring it back. Once you have it, you will notify the second team, who will bring you back to the exit until you regroup with the first team. From there, we will all work together to fight and kill Heartless until we reach base, where we will activate the Keyblade and get out of Purgatory.”

 

“Sounds like a plan,” Vanitas, who had kicked his feet up on the table, leaned further back in his chair. “Is it foolproof?”

 

“By no means is this a foolproof plan. There are so many ways in which this can go wrong, but it's up to every one of us to make sure it doesn't go wrong.” Roxas gathered up everything that was spread across the table, all papers and the files, and left the lobby… not before scratching Sora's head, messing up his twin's hair.

 

“See you in the morning, Sora.”

 

“See you Roxas…”

 

The meeting adjourned with Roxas’ absence. Everyone trailed back up the stairs, all except for Joshua, who trailed back into the freezer.

 

Sora and Riku climbed back up the stairs, snacking on some processed food that tasted like salt. They walked through the creaking fire doors and down the dim hallway until they reached Sora's room.

 

They had stayed out on their lesson far longer than they originally intended to be. It was 7:32 pm by the time they closed the doors to Sora's room. Wrappers were thrown in a trash bin and the two almost fell on eachother while collapsing on the bed.

 

The two whispered to eachother for the next few hours, discussing the plan and thinking up codewords and fighting strategies.

 

Sora found himself comfortable in Riku's side with his head buried into Riku's shoulder. It was just… more comfortable than the pillow.

 

The two rested until the morning, a morning that would never shine down in Purgatory.

 

Bright-eyed, the two redressed and walked out of the room. Riku ignored the screaming duck running towards them, it was better that way.

 

“You two are late! We're all leaving in ten minutes to the Heartless’ Castle!”

 

“We know, we know Donald.” Sora, the better of the two at dealing with people, felt with the duck. “We're almost ready, just give us a few minutes.”

 

Donald stomped back down the hallway, muttering about sleeping in and moving slowly.

 

The two, a little more rushed than before, continued their trek to the lobby.

 

There was everyone else.

 

_ Everyone  _ was there.

 

The group, the other nine that were going to the castle, were all already by the door, all packed up and ready to go. Others, some Riku has never seen before, stood in the lobby. Some cowboy tipped his hat in the direction of those who are leaving while another who was just a skeleton in a suit bowed goodbye.

 

The man with pink hair, he introduced himself as Marluxia, came by Riku. The pink haired man just patted Riku’s shoulder before saying his goodbyes to Sora.

 

Everyone who was staying was acting like this was a funeral for the already-dead.

 

It might as well be. It wasn't a foolproof plan. The highest end possibility was for all of them to die before they can get through the Heartless.

 

However, the eleven of them are determined not to fail. The eleven of them will get through the Heartless, get the Keyblade and return home safely. If they were determined, then nothing would be able to stop them.

 

Sora brushed hands with Riku. Riku intertwined their hands.

 

They were prepared to leave in less than a minute. The group of eleven ate and prepared their minds to slaughter millions of Heartless.

 

Marching out the door like soldiers, Roxas, Donald and Ventus held defensive positions around the group while Sora stood in the middle with the map. He directed where they went and only got the group lost three times.

 

It took a combined effort from Olette and Hayner to get them back on the path every time.

 

Every time they ran into a stray Heartless, Roxas would initiate the fight. He goes in with two guns blazing and murder in every move. Donald would provide support, somehow using a bow and arrow.

 

Riku wanted him to prove he could use magic. Donald told him he needed to conserve his MP for the fight.

 

Riku was near exhausted by the time they reached the Heartless’ Castle. He wasn’t used to running for miles without a break just to go on some murdering rampage of creatures that he wasn’t sure if they were alive or not.

 

He wasn’t sure he wanted to find out…

 

Olette and Hayden peaked over the edge of their current hiding place, behind a rock.

 

They were all behind separate chunks of concrete, which most likely came from one of the destroyed buildings nearby. Riku hid with Joshua, preparing to run in right behind the first and second group. Vanitas wasn’t with them. However, he was a few feet away, crouched with Roxas, Ventus and Sora.

 

Now that he saw them all together, he couldn’t help but notice that the four of them looked oddly similar. Ventus and Vanitas just look like color swapped versions of each other while Ventus and Roxas almost looked the same. The main difference was the height and hair color. Ventus had more of a sandy hair color while Roxas was a few inches taller.

 

However, now was probably not the time to,be just realizing this. They were about to begin an infiltration after all.

 

“Team one, time to begin.”

 

Roxas took the lead, Sora and Olette following behind. Donald took his time saying goodbye to Goofy before joining the other three.

 

Sora caught Riku's eye and smiled before turning back to the fight ahead.

 

The Heartless nearest the castle are brutal. They seemed stronger and faster than the ones scattered around everywhere else. 

 

Roxas barged through the army of Heartless, shooting at all of them like fish in a barrel. Donald used some type of magic infused in arrows to hit exact points in the Heartless. Every once in a while, Donald spun in a circle, leaving a light trail of green, sending it off to Sora.

 

Sora tore through the Heartless, slashing through their inky skin like butter. Unlike Roxas, he couldn't stay still as he slaughtered the creatures. He jumped from one to the other, chopping off heads while not staying long enough to watch them roll.

 

Olette had much more grace while murdering the Heartless. She used everything she had in her to kill, barely able to do so. Anyone with any amount of skill could tell she didn't know what she was doing. Olette simply didn't have the skill the others have.

 

She still slaughtered many Heartless, which is more than anyone else could say. 

 

“Joshua,” Roxas knew what came next. “Make a path for us.”

 

Purgatory was about to get lit up.

 

Joshua stood from his cover, calmly striding towards Roxas. He could see the gated entrance to the castle through the swarms of Heartless.

 

Ventus brought out Hayner and Xion, running further from the sea of broken towers to hide closer to everyone else.

 

“What is he doing?” Riku had never seen Joshua fight. Honestly, he hadn't seen anyone but Sora fight the Heartless until now. It was somewhat fun to assess their skills as he was waiting for the signal to move forward.

 

“You'll see… watch him, he's about to use his powers.” Ventus looked too interested into this.

 

“Powers?” Riku only just looked back to Joshua when everything got so much brighter.

 

A bright yellow glow emanated from the Composer, drowning out any and all of his features until his being was completely white. His shoulders shifted upwards before taking the rest of his body with it.

 

Riku didn't believe what he was seeing. He knew that Joshua was some sort of “Composer”, but flying? Flying wasn't him at possibly, and neither is magic. He barely understood the duck, but this human was  _ flying? Levitating?  _ Just who is Joshua exactly?

 

The glowing Joshua floated a few feet above the ground, keeping himself in a perfectly straight line. Raising his hand, anyone could feel the smirk that simply emanated in waves from his entire being.

 

With a childish laugh, Joshua snapped his fingers, and rays of bluish light came from the sky, destroying the Heartless on impact. More came downpouring from the sky, killing like an acid rain. He almost hit Sora, who was trying his best to avoid all the raining light.

 

Riku, as well as the others in group two and three, where amazed by this light show. None of them have ever really seen Joshua fight, Ventus has only heard about this fighting style from Joshua’s friend, who had the illness.

 

No one really knows what happened to him. They’ve all learned not to talk about it with Joshua though, they would lose a limb if they did so.

 

“If he could do that, why didn’t he do it sooner!” Hayner, from his corner, was amazed by the amount of power it would take to do something like this. To be able to bring down wrath in the form of light that can murder Heartless with a single touch… It had to be some immense wrath.

 

Joshua drifted back to the ground, digging his heels into the fog and the rocks before bracing himself. He used his hand, shot it out quickly from his chest, and from it came the widest beam of the blue light anyone had seen thus far. The light cut the Heartless, leaving what is left of their bodies to fade into the rocks, mingling with the low fog.

 

Once the blue light faded, Joshua immediately called to the rest of the teams to come, to  _ hurry. We don’t have much time! _

 

Joshua and Ventus lead the teams across the parted sea of Heartless, completely eliminating any Heartless that tried to get in their way.

 

Riku stepped into the frozen stone castle and  _ ran _ . Every one of them there ran like their life depended on it, which it probably did.

 

A wall of white feathers protected them from a deranged Heartless as they trudged through the castle. Riku was almost shocked by them before he realized that they belong to Joshua.

 

The only reason the Composer was not outside fighting is because they also needed a strong fighter inside to destroy any stray Heartless inside.

 

Getting to the Keyblade was easier than they first thought it to be. Then came the difficult part.

 

Not just anyone could pick up the Keyblade. Riku didn't care enough to listen to the others when they explained the lore or the specifications on who can hold it. That's why he jumped to the Keyblade when everyone stood frozen.

 

Riku phased through a bluish forcefield, quickly grabbing the blade, which-yeah, it kinda does look like a key.

 

He ran past his group's astonished faces, calling them when he was already a few steps into the hallway out.

 

The three of them, Vanitas, Riku and Joshua, ran back into the hallway. Soon meeting up with the second group, who were slaughtering the stray Heartless, they all ran through the stone cold hallways to the exit.

 

The second group didn't do much of a good job while mapping the castle, and, as a result, they got lost several times before finding the exit again.

 

Everyone ran, Sora, Roxas, Olette and Donald joined back up with the group once they slaughtered their way out of the Heartless. They ran, ran and ran. They ran through the demolished concrete buildings, most of the faster Heartless following the Keyblade.

 

The Heartless growled and thrashed, desperately trying to rush through the murderous kids to get the one thing they are made to protect.

 

The dual wielder and the kid with wings were the greatest culprits of the death of Heartless. They killed with no remorse for the lost souls, leaving the Heartless with half a brain, not even watching as they crumpled to the ground and lost their forms in the fog.

 

Sora and Vanitas worked together to direct the group back to the base, a flood in their trail.

 

Quite literally. Hayner almost wanted it pick up the small creature and bring it back to the base.

 

They soon made it back to the base, last of the following Heartless dead and evaporated. Everyone stopped to catch their breath in the lobby. Someone got up and locked the door, but Riku didn't take note of who it was.

 

Sora collapsed on top of Riku, flinging his arms out to the side. “Geeze, I'm  _ exhausted _ .” Sora laughed, Riku laughs.

 

The contagious laughter filled the room. Everyone that didn't go on the expedition slowly filled the lobby too, snickering and laughing along.

 

The laughter continued until Riku figured out how to use the Keyblade, until he figured out how to take everyone home. He had to create separate portal for everyone to bring them home, not everyone wanted to go to the Kingdom of Corona with Flynn… or whatever his name was.

 

After they walked through, he had to manually close the portal behind them in order to open a new one.

 

It wasn’t long until everyone was through the portals… Actually, it was. It took a bit over two hours to get everyone through the portals, though it felt like only five minutes had past.

 

Riku pointed the Keyblade at Joshua and opened a portal to the world of Shibuya.

 

Once the star-shaped portal was open, creatures started falling out of the portal. Sora and Riku, the only two left besides Joshua, prepared to fight the tattooed weasels and penguins and porcupines that weren’t the right colors.

 

Joshua put a hand between the two humans and the tattooed creatures.

 

“Don’t worry.” He caught an old orange flip phone that was thrown through the portal from the other side. “It’s noise, practically harmless to us.” Flipping it open, Joshua pressed a few keys on the phone. The bright blue light that came from Joshua’s attack against the Heartless hours before came back, though when they hit the ‘Noise’, they shattered into static.

 

“See, harmless.”

 

Joshua destroyed a few more when they crawled through the portal, leaving Sora and Riku to watch the lightshow from a few meters away.

 

Two minutes later, the ‘Noise; were all deleted, scattered static in the air.

 

Two minutes later, a boy with orange hair almost as spikey as Sora’s came through the portal.

 

The Composer's expression went numb, his eyes showed his shock and surprise even if the rest of his face was frigidly blank.

 

“Joshua?” The boy who came through the portal asked, taking a few steps to the Composer.

 

“That’s Neku.” Sora whispered, “He’s Joshua’s lover, the one who came here from the illness a while back.”

 

“Oh…”

 

“N… Neku?”

 

“Yeah Josh, it’s me.” Neku smiled, though his face looked strained, like he wasn’t very used to smiling. Neku, who looked too skinny to be healthy, took the Composer’s left hand, while using his other to brush across the God’s face.

 

Joshua squealed, throwing his weight onto Neku, making to two fall back into the portal. With a bright rush of light, the two were gone. Riku closed the portal with the Keyblade before more Noise could flood the room.

 

The room became dark again, cold with only two occupants.

 

Riku looked to Sora, and Sora starred to where Joshua’s star-shaped portal had been.

 

“We’re the only two left,” Sora started, grabbing onto Riku’s hand. “We can’t both go through a portal… Someone needs to stay here to close it so the Heartless can’t get through to the real world.”

 

Riku knew, he  _ knew that. _ He’s been the one closing the portals, he  _ knew _ that.

 

Still, as he squeezed Sora’s hand, he wished he didn’t have to go home.

 

“Riku, I think it’s time to go home.”

 

Riku almost lost his grip on the Keyblade, he didn’t want to.

 

“Sora? Can’t I stay here?” He tried to look into Sora’s eyes, to see those ocean eyes, but Sora was staring at the floor as if it owed him money.

 

“No… you need to go home. You have a family, friends you need to go back for.”

 

“Doesn’t everyone? Don’t you?” Riku tightened his grip on both the Keyblade and Sora, clinging onto the world of Purgatory.

 

“No, sadly, I’ve been here for longer than I can remember.” Riku saw a few drops of water pierce the dusty wooden floorboards. “If I had any family, they’re as dead as I am.”

 

“What… What about Roxas? I thought he was your twin brother?”

 

“Ah, no,” Sora giggled, though it wasn’t light. “We look the same, but he’s not related to me.”

 

“Oh… So, you’ve been here for a while?” Riku found Sora’s face, dropped Sora’s hand and found something better to take ahold of. He laid his hand against the others cheek, the tips of his fingers brushing the back of Sora’s neck.

 

“Hundreds of years,” He joked.

 

The two held eachother close for a few minutes, but with the way time has distorted in Riku’s mind throughout the day, they could have been there for a couple of hours.

 

Confessions were whispered, secrets were shared, a promise was made.

 

Hours or minutes later, no one could tell, Sora asked Riku to do him a favor.

 

The Keyblade was stolen from Riku’s hand and a hand pushed him a few feet away. The stolen Keyblade, who could only be wielded by certain people, was activated. A glowing star appeared behind Riku, and love pushed him in.

 

.

..

…

 

Riku woke up back in his bed, a wet hand-towel fell into his lap. He pushed the covers off and ran out to the living room in only his pyjamas.

 

Kairi sat at the kitchen island, sipping something that looked like a smoothie. Once she saw Riku, who looked like he was an eldritch being searching for sustenance, she called to him.

 

“Riku!” A bit of her drink spilt out of its cup. “What are you doing awake?! You need to be resting!” He looked her dead in the eyes and slowly went back to his room.

 

A bit frightened, Kairi sighed, walking back over to the island. She barely reached her drink before Riku came back up to the living room in jean shorts and a worn out tank top.

 

He stopped by the door and put on his shoes. Before she could get a word out, he looked over to Kairi and nodded his head to the door. Riku waved his hand through the air as if to sign ‘ _ come on _ ’.

 

Still very confused, Kairi put her boots back on before following her friend out the door.

 

It was dark outside, but he could see the stars in the sky. His phone told him it was past 9 pm. The wind was brisk, especially after just having a fever. When taking a path through the beach, the sand cut his arms and legs.

 

A few miles and questions from Kairi, Riku finally found what he promised. A paopu tree hung near the edge of the beach, half of the base being splashed with salt water. With skill and precision that had kairi questioning if he was really sick or not, he caught one of the paopu fruits hanging at the top of the tree.

 

He held the fruit close to his heart as they continued on. Kairi tried to create friction on her arms as the night became colder.

 

“Riku, where are we going? We’ve been gone for a while, your mom is going to be worried…”

 

Riku turned to Kairi for a minute, looking her straight in the eye. “I do things like this all the time, she doesn’t care.”

 

They continued on until they passed through town. Stray lights shown through buildings, but that was all. There were no such things as street lights at this time of night. A few stray cats jumped through allys and pathways, a few darted between Riku’s legs. Kairi had to resist the urge to pick one up.

 

They reached a cleared out section of the town.

 

The cemetery.

 

The  _ old  _ cemetery.

 

Riku pushed past the rusted gates and traversed through the old and crumbling graves. He almost collapsed once he found the one he was looking for.

 

On his knees, Riku split the paopu fruit in half. He set one half in the dead grass and held the other half in his hands.

 

He let tears fall from his eyes as he drew his knees into his chest. Kairi, as helpful as ever, rested a hand on his shoulder.

 

He used a finger to trace the old and worn out letters on the stone.

 

**SORA HANESOMA**

**1454-1470**

 

He was only 16…

 

…

…

…

 

Riku held the paopu fruit in his hands as he came back home in the early hours of the morning. He didn’t care that he was going to have to skip school in a few hours, he could still pretend to be sick if Kairi hasn’t told his mom of his recovery yet.

 

He threw his body onto his bed, the sand that was still in his shoes spilled onto his bed, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to sleep. Maybe he could see Sora in his dreams…

 

He felt the paopu fruit get tugged out if his hands.

 

Riku sprung up to see his cat nibbling at the yellow fruit. Sora…

 

He felt a smile drift onto his face as he fell back into his bed, back to sleep.


End file.
